Mr. Fulton's style of writing is very straightforward and not nearly as dated as you would think. The narrative moves forward quickly as he describes his adventures in a matter of fact tone. But what a story and what a commentary on how our world has changed!

One vignette. He is out of food in the middle of a desert. An Arab shows up and, as was the custom, shares exactly half of his food. Then he disappears inside of his closeby hut. Looking inside, Robert sees him setting up a homemade backgammon board. The Arab beckons him in and begs with his eyes--do you play?? They played all night and he gets trounced by his new friend.

As I was reading about his trip from Damascus to Baghdad, our troops were attacking Iraq. I thought that this young man's journey simply could not be made today. The world, despite the technological advances in communications and plane travel, is not a safer place for the American adventurer.

Get this book! You will not be able to put it down.

This is the first young man to travel around the world by motorbike. According to him he had no intention of doing so but blurted it out to impress a young girl and then he had to go. Lots of wonderful, funny, self-deprecating humor. He is well educated, highly intelligent, and it shows in his writing. Many wry phrases sneak into this book, "The driver cried out for in". Great reading, and very interesting to learn what traveling was like in 1932. He is apparently still alive and kicking. What an adventure.

The best travel book I have ever read. As a young man in 1933, almost on a dare, Robert Fulton rode a Douglas motorcycle (which he still owns) around the world, not only seeing some increible places but writing about them in a highly entertaining and informative way. The book, like the trip, lacks the higher agenda which mar so many travel stories. Fulton simply set out to have a grand adventure and to write about it with humor and respect for those he met. You'll want to go right now to see some of these places for yourself. My favorite is the spot where Krakatoa once stood, marked by flames on the surface of the sea. A must read for anyone who likes a good travel story.

This is a great book written by one of the best thriller talents out there today. This book enchanted me a completely wide awakening night with pumping heart. And I've read all of Bill Edison's books since then. If there are only two reviews so far given to this book and its writer, well, all yours loss and me and other reviewer's gain. Yeah, Reynolds "Players" indeed is another book for the true lover of the REAL thriller. Go to Amazon.com's Clay Reynolds page and see for yourself. Yes, like this one, 5 stars all way down, not even one 4 stars appeared like this one. Also, please read the good reviews of P.D.'s "Hunting Season" too. It's also a pure knock-out. Once you pick up, you'll just read and read and read, until you finish it with a shaky limbs; you'd get a carthasis from your reading world. In my private collection, Bill Edison's books are shelving with Stephen Hunter's "Point of Impact/Black Light/Time to Hunt/Hot Spring/Pale Horse Coming" P.D.'s "Hunting Season", all of A.J. Quinnell's books, from "In the Name of The Father" all way down to his "Perfet Kill" Ludlum's "Matarese Circle/Parsifal Mosaic & his earlier ones.

I read this book quite awhile ago, now - I'm back shopping for more of Bill's novels so figured I'd put in a well deserved good word for Adrenaline while here. This is the second Eidson novel I have read and it was as good as the first (The Guardian). Bill writes in a nonstop, hate-to-put-the book-down manner. If you like fast paced, exciting stories, this one will please . . .

Very glad to find another so gifted, so talented writer again. Thank you, Amazon.com, for giving me the direct input of the candid readers' comments to get to know another wonderful writer. Mr. Eidson is the continued legacy of Gerald A. Browne in his prime time. Readers who appreciated this book should get 'The Players' by Clay Reynolds from Amazon.com. to make themselves more satisfied not just like having a piece of steak with fries and catsup but a versatile flavored full-coursed Chinese cuisine.

A lavish and engrossing presentation, this blends an oversized, large-print format with a peppering of color illustrations throughout and will appeal to both young adult and adult readers with its story of Jubee, a boy who discovers a way to go back in time and make a billion dollars in the stock market crash. His social consciousness kicks in and he decides to modify events for a better future in the process, but his experiences in the 1920s era introduce the challenges of living in the era and when his time machine is trashed, he faces the possibility of being stranded in the past. The lively, revealing tone of the story line enhanced by Toby Bluth's color drawings makes this an unusual and recommended title for all ages.

Enhanced with 58 color plates, fold-outs and illustrations by Toby Bluth (noted children's artist and Walt Disney animation art director), Malcolm Willits' The Wonderful Edison Time Machine is a delightful "coffee table artbook sized" novel in which four boys travel back through time to 1929 in an effort to prevent "Black Friday", the day the stock market crashed and precipitated the Great Depression. The story is original, loaded with cinematic references and humor, and evokes a sense of adventure in the capstone year of the Roaring Twenties. With its large print format, The Wonderful Edison Time Machine is highly recommended reading for readers young and old alike.

What would it have been like to be a child in 1929? In the Wonderful Edison Time Machine, Jubee, a youth of the 1990's, and his friends travel back to 1929 and experience all the good and bad that that tumultuous year has to offer. In some ways this book with it many beautiful, full color illustrations looks like a book for children. In fact the language and concepts are perfect for adults who would like to look back in time to see and experience important historical events through the eyes of a precocious child. The text of this fascinating journey through time is by Malcolm Willits, and it is beautifully illustrated by Toby Bluth who has done work for Disney.

I read Yankee Pasha as a young man during my off time as a camp counsellor...and I am reading it again today as a 46 year old man. It is the first book I had ever read, and now it is the first book I have ever read twice...it is that good. This book is full of adventure, mystery and romance...and it has proven to bring me the miracle of love as well. Readers of the novel be forewarned!...this book IS responsible for providing the miracle of LOVE to at least two of its readers!

If you love sweeping epic novels that are historical, romantic, and adventure filled, this is the book for you. I read it at 14 and again at 38 and it remains one of my top 5 of all time!Enjoy!S

If you love sweeping epic novels that are historical, romantic, and adventure filled, this is the book for you. I read it at 14 and again at 38 and it remains one of my top 5 of all time!Enjoy!S

In a breezy, readable style reminiscent of James Burke's Connections, the author tells the story of the harnessing of electricity, from Benjamin Franklin's kite to Guglielmo Marconi and the beginnings of radio. Playing no national favorites, the book debunks some popular myths about Morse and Edison, and places developments in Britain and Europe in context with those in America.
Morse and the development of landline telegraphy have their own 52-page chapter, and the story of Cyrus Field and the Atlantic Cable occupies a further 49 pages. Covering all aspects of the history of electricity, Fleet Fire is an entertaining and informative study. The book has endnotes, a bibliography, and, appropriately, a web-page listing of related material.

This is an eye-opening book, not only wonderfully entertaining but filled with fascinating details of one of the most important periods in scientific discovery. And much of it took place right here in America. This is a cast of characters you never knew but whose achievements we benefit from daily. I couldn't put it down. Much of the time as I turned the pages I kept thinking that with all the useless television we face daily and wondering why someone didn't think about telling these stories before since this book provides wonderful insights into these great modern scientific explorers, their inventions and their times. Hopefully, the talented and very humorous Mr. Davis has plans underway to write more books on the history of invention since this must-read leaves you wanting the history to go on and on like a great novel.

Fear not. Dive in. This is the sort of book one keeps around for decades.

Books sometimes are like children's clothes - they have to be grown into. This is one of them.

Look for yourself. Avoid others' conclusions. Look for yourself. Like a grown up.

You'll find nothing. And everything.

THE HIERARCHY OF HEAVEN AND EARTH : A New Diagram of Man in the Universe. By D. E. Harding. With an Introduction by C. S. Lewis. 268 pp. Gainesville : University Presses of Florida, 1979 (originally published by Faber and Faber, London, 1952).

The present book has been reprinted a number of times, and I suppose all Douglas Harding fans have at some point acquired a copy of it. After all, Harding Sensei's fantastically important discovery of the spiritual technique of "reversing the arrow of attention" places him squarely in the forefront of the world's spiritual masters, and if a figure such as Bankei can be considered one of Japan's three greatest Zen Masters (the other two being Dogen and Hakuin), I see nothing wrong in considering Douglas Harding as, in a sense, Britain's greatest 'Zen' Master.

Given this, everything Harding Sensei writes ought to be worth reading. Unfortunately, although this was certainly the case with the ORIGINAL manuscript of 'Hierarchy of Heaven and Earth,' the present 'popular' edition of it was so severly cut by Harding himself for publication as to leave it, though still a philosophic masterpiece, impenetrably obscure, and, so far as I am aware, very few readers actually succeed in making their way through the book.

With pretty well all of the great mass of examples and illustrations found in the original extensively annotated 650 folio-sized pages of the manuscript having been cut, the shortened version becomes just too difficult for most folks to follow. Readers who are as brainy as C. S. Lewis should have no trouble, but unfortunately most of us aren't.

Those who would like to read what Harding actually wrote, the original and uncut version of 'Hierarchy of Heaven and Earth,' will have to find the sumptuous facsimile of Harding's typewritten manuscript. At the urging of his colleagues and friends, this was published in a limited edition of 300 numbered copies by The Shollond Trust, London, in 1998. It can be found by searching the web, and a few copies may still be available. Those who have read it have greatly enjoyed it, and have found it to be far more intelligible than the shortened version.

Newcomers to Harding would be far better off starting with his other books, particularly his classic 'On Having No Head : Zen and the Rediscovery of the Obvious' - that is if they are lucky enough to be able to find a copy. It's a short book which gives the quintessence of Harding's approach in just 81 pages, and it provides an excellent foundation for approaching the Master's later books. In fact, it may turn out to be the only Harding book you will ever need.

I read this book in one day. The author's description of the wild west is as captivating as is the action. His description of the area now known as Monument Valley is so real you can taste the dust and feel the heat. If you love action, suspense, are interested in an age when people were tough and a passion for life meant something, this book is for you. I'd recommend it for 14yrs and up.

Sister St. Agnes is a model Christian. Happy and morally upstanding, no matter what situation she is in. Willing to die for The Faith. Obviously not politically correct. There is no lack of action. Some of the corpses are described a little guesomely. I cried at the end!! Very touching.

This is a very compassionate book about smart but difficult to manage children. These "Edison-trait" children are spirited, passionate children who are very intense and hard to live with. The author calls them "divergent thinkers", who are very creative, imaginative, and see things in a different way than others. They have problems focusing on others' ideas and letting go of their own. School can be very frustrating for them. For example, they don't like practicing skills repeatedly. I found Chapter 12 on School to very helpful. It gives some good tips to help these children succeed at school and to feel good about themselves regarding school. There are ways that parents and teachers can help them and provide encouragement without the child feeling labeled or stigmatized. There is also a large section in the book on ADD and ADHD. The author writes "While just about all children who have ADD have the Edison trait, not all children with the Edison trait have ADD." While they share the same traits, such as being easily distracted, disorganized, and disobedient, in the child with ADD, these traits are excessive and disrupts his functioning. The problems are more severe in the ADD child. This book is very compassionate regarding the needs of the children. It provides hope for parents.

I have NEVER been so excited about a book before. With every page and chapter I felt as if the author had come to live in my house for the last 5 years and then write the story of "my household". How she describes your home as a "war zone" (mine literally was), how many times I read a phrase of another Edison Trait parent and then asked my self "how many times have I said or felt that". How many times the actions of a child was described and I would say "oh my god, my child does exactly that". Not only do I FINALLY have a diagnosis for my "hard to be told, argumentative, rambunctious (sp?), always have to have the last word, imaginitive, always does first then ask later, bright, loving 10 year old child" , I now have the tools to teach and help myself to understand and teach my child in the loving POSITIVE way she deserves. I have also been enlightened to how my child feels. This was truely a gift (Thank you Dr. Pallandino) in that it helped me to see that I had been hurting and alienating my daughter by my anger, words and frustrations. What parent wants to hurt their child? I have practiced some of the techniques suggested by Dr. Pallandino with my child and have seen dramatic results. Any time I see a child with the Edison Traits I recognize, I want to go to their parents and tell them that there is light at the end of the tunnel and it is in this book. Because Oprah is such a roll model for literally millions of people, I wish she would feature this book on her book of the month club or at the very least have a show about Edison Trait children. What greater way is there to help a child than to begin with educating the parents. I want to stand on the highest mountain and shout out to the world that if you have a child that you just can't handle or understand then PLEASE, PLEASE do your child a favor, and yourself and READ THIS BOOK. You will feel as though you were blind but now have the gift of sight. I welcome any online discussion with other parents on the topic of this book, please feel free to contact me at my e-mail address.

Because I was an Edison Trait child, I wasn't sure if I was reading the book for my son or for me! Many times I thought how much better our lives would have been if I had purchased this book earlier. Instead of struggling against the "strong will" of my son, this book provides parenting techniques, recognition skills and positive advice for Edison Trait kids and parents. Unfortunately, many school systems would rather have the child conform rather than take the time and effort necessary for Edison Trait children to learn most effectively. Indeed, the standardized "gifted" tests used in our school system are more geared to convergent thinking children, as is the program itself. The book needs to be followed up with a short assessment guide for parents and teachers. So often, the Edison Trait is confused with ADD as it was with my son. Rather than fight the perception, the assessment guide could be handed to teachers to help them understand the Edison Trait vs. ADD. Overall, the book provides incredible insights and is extremely well-written using colorful examples and humor.

While reading this book, I was fascinated by each of these men but even more so of James Newton, the author. Reading this book I found that it was full of history, humor, and unfounded wisdom. I began taking notes for my own personal edification. This is truly a must read.

This book originally caught my eye as an addition to another book I read called Edison: A Life of Invention by Paul Israel. I wanted a book that would cover a little more of Edison's personal life, and this book did just that. However, James Newton's close, dedicated friendships with all of these great men of the twentieth century is truly amazing, and I learned more than I would probably learn otherwise about some of these important historical figures.

The entire book is fascinating, and surely different parts will appeal to different readers. I was particularly enchanted with a poignant description of how Charles Lindbergh handled dying as he lay on his deathbed. I was also fascinated with how environmentally conscientious some of these men were, particularly Edison and Lindbergh, but also Ford. For example, Ford was very interested in making automobile parts out of soybeans in order to reduce the need for metal parts. It seems that all of these men had numerous ideas and ideas for inventions that were way ahead of their time - perhaps some of them still are.

Newton's writing is quite good, and I only have one very minor criticism: it seems that he preaches a little bit and dwells on the religious facet of his relationships with these people. Of course, I'm sure this was a very important part of his relationship with these men and their families, but it seems that there is a grand, overarching agenda he has in constantly illustrating their connection to God and religion.

If you are interested in any of these historical figures and their fascinating relationships with each other, this book is definitely the best book you will find on the subject.

This book originally caught my eye as an addition to another book I read called Edison: A Life of Invention by Paul Israel. I wanted a book that would cover a little more of Edison's personal life, and this book did just that. However, James Newton's close, dedicated friendships with all of these great men of the twentieth century is truly amazing, and I learned more than I would probably learn otherwise about some of these important historical figures.

The entire book is fascinating, and surely different parts will appeal to different readers. I was particularly enchanted with a poignant description of how Charles Lindbergh handled dying as he lay on his deathbed. I was also fascinated with how environmentally conscientious some of these men were, particularly Edison and Lindbergh, but also Ford. For example, Ford was very interested in making automobile parts out of soybeans in order to reduce the need for metal parts. It seems that all of these men had numerous ideas and ideas for inventions that were way ahead of their time - perhaps some of them still are.

Newton's writing is quite good, and I only have one very minor criticism: it seems that he preaches a little bit and dwells on the religious facet of his relationships with these people. Of course, I'm sure this was a very important part of his relationship with these men and their families, but it seems that there is a grand, overarching agenda he has in constantly illustrating their connection to God and religion.

If you are interested in any of these historical figures and their fascinating relationships with each other, this book is definitely the best book you will find on the subject.

Professor Thomas G. Field, Jr., Franklin Pierce Law Center

Few variables are more likely to dictate short- and long-term commercial success than a firm's ability to convert intellectual assets into intellectual property (IP). The smaller the firm, the bigger the need, and the need only grows.
Most companies are careful to avoid IP infringement and are eager to sue direct competitors who do not. Many firms also educate key employees on their roles in perfecting and protecting intangible assets. Fewer give full attention to IP and antecedents that might nevertheless be regarded as assets. For example, those who would not hesitate to monitor and sue infringing competitors may not monitor non-competitors as potential licensees.
To extract the most from intellectual assets, many factors, e.g., legal, technical marketing and sales, must be weighed. Edison in the Boardroom offers important advice to help firms take steps to meet that need. Despite its reference to "assets" in the subtitle, however, most of this book focuses more narrowly - on IP, and on patents specifically.
Davis and Harrison, said to bring "a quarter century of IP consulting accomplishments between them," document that some companies have long engaged in trying to optimize the value of their intellectual assets. The authors also assign companies to a five-level hierarchy based on a range of IP-management strategies. A goldmining metaphor is usefully advanced at one point to describe those levels as: defensive (staking claims), panning (cost control), mining (deeper profit seeking), processing (integration), and sculpting. The heart of the book consists of five chapters that discuss these levels seriatim and offers a host of useful ideas and anecdotes.
The book is generally well-structured. For example, early in each of the five core chapters is a description of what "companies are trying to accomplish" at the corresponding level of IP-management sophistication. At the defensive level, of course, companies have processes for seeking, maintaining and enforcing IP. Yet, in the discussion of second-level companies, said to seek to reduce costs by exercising judgment about what is brought into and kept in their patent portfolios, it becomes clear how much various levels overlap. The first two topics may usefully be segregated for purposes of discussion, but it is hard to imagine any company that can afford, literally, to pursue protection without attempting to balance portfolio goals against concomitant costs. Indeed, one thesis of the second chapter is that no firm can seek the strongest protection for everything of potential patentability, much less seek it in every possible country.
The third chapter diverges considerably. Companies featured there are said to seek, e.g., to extract portfolio value as quickly and cheaply as possible. Several have gone well beyond suing competitors or easily discovered, non-competing infringers. The most aggressive of such firms regard IP departments as profit centers and actively solicit licensees. Their success is sometimes remarkable. As the authors point out, "Worldwide revenues from patent licensing have grown from $15 billion in 1990 to over $100 billion in 2000." Echoing the central theme of another recent book, Davis and Harrison also point out that, "Some experts estimate that companies are sitting on $1 trillion per year in unexploited licensing fees."
Fourth- and fifth-level firms are difficult to distinguish from ones discussed earlier - or from each other. For example, level-four companies are said to seek to integrate "IP awareness and operations throughout all functions of the company." That seems necessary, too, for allegedly less capable compatriots. Further, when level-five firms are described as embedding intellectual assets and their management into the company culture, it is difficult to find divergence.
The last are said to have as additional objectives: (1) staking a claim on the future and (2) encouraging "disruptive technologies." Still, these could easily been collapsed into "Get a Crystal Ball!" Heuristics for meeting them non-serendipitiously are weak.
Consider, for example, the mouse and graphic interface as commercialized on Macintosh computers. Steve Jobs is said to have derived both from the Alto computer developed by Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center. While Jobs became a billionaire, "Xerox completely failed to get into the personal computer business, missing one of the biggest business opportunities in history." To avoid repeating such mistakes, Davis and Harrison suggest that companies should "identify ways the corporation can benefit from [ideas outside their business capacity] before moving on." They, not surprisingly, can offer little guidance.
One IP attorney recently stressed the need for his colleagues better to understand the identification, protection and use of intellectual capital "effectively to address strategic corporate objectives." Those for whom this is novel terrrain will find Edison in the Boardroom helpful.
Also, senior IP counsel better acquainted with the topic may find the book useful. Some will face difficulty in convincing those at the same level or higher in the corporate hierarchy of its importance. To the extent that their advocacy of the critical role to be played by IP counsel is perceived as serving selfish aims, the book should help allay suspicions.
For these and other attorneys, the value of Edison in the Boardroom could easily, and vastly, exceed its modest price.

The authors provide an excellent framework for companies to manage their intellectual property - without using too much consultant speak.

They quote examples at different levels of their framework and look at companies who are suceeding at managing and valuing their IP effectively. This is a skill which can only be more and more wanted in the future.

The most interesting takeaway is that most companies are very bad in this field, and there are very few success stories.

Julie Davis and Suzanne Harrison's book, Edison in the Boardroom, takes readers deep enough into the field of intellectual property management for them to incorporate presented theories into their respective professional disciplines - researcher, attorney, licensing exec, etc. - without the book becoming unwieldy. Excellent balance. This book can become a cornerstone text for any professional involved with intellectual property to direct his or her focus for additional study and to ensure his or her working knowledge of the challenges confronting professionals in other disciplines that together form a corporate intellectual property management program.